Synopsis of Biological Data on the Longbill Spearfish, 

 Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva 1 



C.RICHARD ROBINS 2 



1 IDENTITY 



1.1 Nomenclature 



1.11 Valid name 



The valid scientific name of this taxon is Tetrap- 

 turus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva (1963:86-89). 



1.12 Objective synonymy 



All previous references to the species were incorrect- 

 ly or incompletely attributed, mostly to the 

 Mediterranean spearfish, Tetrapturus belone 

 Rafinesque. In describing pfluegeri, Robins and de 

 Sylva (1963:86, 89-90) gave complete synonymies for 

 both species. There are no earlier invalid names nor 

 any junior synonyms. 



1.2 Taxonomy 

 1.21 Affinities 



Tetrapturus pfluegeri has been assigned by all 

 authors to Tetrapturus Rafinesque (1810) as 

 employed by Robins and de Sylva (1960:402-406). 

 This genus is one of three living genera recognized by 

 those authors in the family Istiophoridae which in 

 turn comprises with the Xiphiidae in suborder 

 Xiphioidei of the order Perciformes. 



A synonymy of Tetrapturus was given by Robins 

 and de Sylva (1960:385). This is repeated below: 



Tetrapturus Rafinesque 



Tetrapturus Rafinesque, 1810: 54-55 (T. belone, type species by 



monotypy). 

 Skeponopodus Nardo, 1832: 99 (nomen nudum); 1833: 415-419 



(S. typus, [= T. belone Rafinesque], type species by virtue of 



the name typus). 

 Tetrapterurus Bonaparte, 1841: 19 (emended spelling). 

 Tetrapterus Agassiz, 1843: 7, 89-92, table E (emended spelling). 

 Tetraplurus Verany, 1847: 492-494 (misprint for Tetrapturus'!). 

 Scheponopodus Canestrini, 1872: 112 (emended spelling). 

 Tetraperus Radcliffe, 1926: 112 (misprint for Tetrapturus). 



Marlina Grey, 1928: 47 (Tetrapturus mitsukurii Jordan and Sny- 

 der, [= T audax Philippi], type species by monotypy; the use 

 of Marlina at the generic level is probably a slip). 



Kajikia Hirasaka and Nakamura, 1947: 13-14 (Kajikia formo- 

 sana, [= Tetrapturus audax Philippi], type species by mono- 

 typy). 



Pseudohistiophorus de Buen, 1950: 171 {Tetrapturus illingworthi 

 Jordan and Evermann [= T. angustirostris Tanaka], type spe- 

 cies by original designation). 



Lamontella Smith, 1956: 32 (Tetrapturus albida [sic] Poey, type 

 species by original designation and monotypy). 



Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva 

 Figures 1 and 2 



Type specimen. — The following designations were 

 made by Robins and de Sylva, 1963:88. The specimen 

 numbers in parentheses will enable the reader to ob- 

 tain the morphometric data for each specimen by 

 reference to Robins and de Sylva (1960: Tables 2, 3; 

 1963: Tables 1, 2). Also meristic data for the holotype 

 were indicated by an asterisk (*) in Table 5 of the 1963 

 paper. 



Figure 1. — Tetrapturus pfluegeri, juvenile, 368-mm body length, 

 taken off Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Drawing by D. P. de Sylva 

 (after Robins and de Sylva, 1963:Fig. 2). 



'Contribution No. 1709, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmos- 

 pheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149. 



'Maytag Professor of Ichthyology, Rosenstiel School of Marine 

 and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149. 



Figure 2.— Tetrapturus pfluegeri, adult, 1,482-mm body length, 

 24 lb, taken off Miami, Fla. (spec. 4, see Robins and de Sylva, 

 1960:392-393 for further data). 



28 



